In "Gravity," Sandra Bullock plays a character who experiences a kind of terror most of us will never know, but she also got to pretend she's Peter Pan, get into top shape and act with George Clooney.

The 49-year-old Oscar winner, known as "America's Sweetheart," talked to OTRC.com about her role in Alfonso Cuaron's new 3D movie and her unique experience filming it. The movie depicts the aftermath of a shuttle accident in space and focuses on her and Clooney's characters' struggle to survive.

"I think Clooney and space are pretty much on par," she joked. "Clooney is space. Space wishes it was Clooney. Space was a big, big character in this and we didn't have while we were shooting, but I now see that it's there, you know, in the final product."

"Gravity" was released on Friday, Oct. 4. Check out 5 highlights from OTRC.com's interview with Sandra Bullock. (Watch videos, above -- Bullock does an impression of Cuaron!)

1. Why 3D?

"It was used specifically for the emotion. It wasn't used to say, 'Oh, look at what 3D can do.' It was used to establish a sense of space and then it was used to establish terror and to show the diversity and angst of what's coming at you and then it was used emotionally, at the end, very specifically."

2. On the difficulty of playing off Clooney when he was not there physically ...

"It was a struggle and when George was there, it was like sun and life had entered the room and when he left, there was like, two days, I was depressed. I'd never had that visceral of a reaction when someone has left and I went, 'I'm miserable. I'm miserable without that help' but that misery and that loneliness worked. Instead of fighting it, which I did for a while, you just used it."

3. On the "Peter Pan" feeling ...

"I'll never grow up! It's a fantasy we all have -- what would it be like to fly? You have it kind of in a pool -- that sort of weightlessness, that sort of freedom -- but this was sort of the fantasy I think everyone has, they go, 'If I could just fly, just be weightless for a little while and feel that freedom' and we got to simulate it. It was not as fluid as what you saw in the end result, it was piece by piece by piece -- but it was fun."

4. Sandra Bullock's diet and fitness regimen

"[I started working out] about six months before and then every day while we were shooting. Lunch was in the workout box. You can eat when you're locked into things and you're by yourself. It had to be done so I wouldn't hurt myself and I could execute what Alfonso needed on the gymnastics level, but I also wanted her to have this body that was someone who just needed the machine to execute what she needed to do and didn't remind her of being what she was in the past, which was a mom."

5. About that flying in a fetal position scene ...

"While shooting it, there was a bicycle seat and a post. I had to balance myself on it and they taped one of my legs down ... But my leg had to contract, so my core had to all contract, and my leg would start shaking. Alfonso would say, 'Sandy, it's Alfonso' ... he goes, 'Does your leg have the shake?' I said, it doesn't have to, but remember, I'm doing this manually!'"

"He goes, 'Sandy, there's something on your leg. What is that?' I was like, 'I don't know what it is.' He goes, 'The line. What's the line?' I go,' You mean the muscle? That would be a muscle, Alfonso. It's not going anywhere.'"

Reporting by George Pennacchio of KABC Television, which produces the nationally syndicated entertainment show "On The Red Carpet" (check for local TV listings).